By Doug Draper
The Niagara Health System – a totally un-elected body the former provincial government of Mike Harris and Tim Hudak made responsible for managing the majority of what’s left of our hospitals in the region and that Dalton McGuinty and Jim Bradley and their government have allowed to proceed – owe we the people, who pay property taxes in this region, $3.1 million.
And it is about time the NHS and its provincial masters paid up!
After all, it was the NHS and the province’s other layer of un-elected and high-priced bureaucracy, the Local Health Integrated Network (LHIN) for this area, that decided it was a good idea to close the emergency rooms at the only two hospitals – Port Colborne’s and Fort Erie’s – in the southern tier.
And it was that decision, made last year as the NHS and LHIN charged forward, against a good deal of public protest, with something that turned out sounding kind of Orwellian – a “hospital improvement plan” or HIP, for short. The plan was allegedly going to save money – be more “cost effective,” as the lingo goes.
Instead, it placed an added burden of costs on our regional government’s ambulance service – a service that, by the way, was downloaded on our region (and all regions across the province) by former Conservative cabinet minister Hudak and his friend and supporter, Mike Harris. So when it comes to the Conservatives and Liberals, at least, and even the NDP to the extent that Bob Rae began making cuts to health and other social services when he was that party’s Ontario premier, there is plenty of blame to go around.
But after all that, the NHS and government of the day still owe the taxpayers of Niagara $3.1 million.
Or is the NHS and province just willing to keep that downloaded on regional and local municipalities through property taxes that are the most regressive in the sense that they are slapped on everyone from seniors on fixed incomes to younger people who are struggling to pay their home bills after being down-waged or losing their jobs.
Bad enough that a majority on Niagara’s regional council agreed to wave more than $7 million in development fees here after the NHS’s decision to locate the only new hospital complex for which we are likely to receive provincial approval for many years to come in a lousy-to-access corner of west St. Catharines. By the way, that site is in Jim Bradley’s riding, and ‘kudos’ for him.
Apparently it is also okay that the taxpayers of this region have to pick up a bill totaling $20 million or more for a new interchange, off Highway 406, to help feed traffic past a jungle of strip malls and big box stores to this ill-placed hospital site.
At a public hearing on hospital services, held in Welland earlier this March, Fort Erie Mayor Doug Martin was one of many who expressed disgust at the lack of interest McGuinty and company have shown for paying for the NHS’s decisions, including the cost of increased ambulance services for the region’s southern tier.
When asked by one of the panelists at the hearing when the NHS or province might consider putting up the bucks to cover the extra cost of ambulance services for Niagara’s south end, Martin had this response – “I would suggest that it will be sometime before October of next year (meaning before the next provincial election.”
Unfortunately, Martin may be right, if they ante up at all.
(Click on www.niagaratlarge.com for Niagara At Large and more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to our binational Niagara region.)
ONCE AGAIN MR DRAPER REVEALS YET ANOTHER FAILURE OF THE NHS HOSPITAL”IMPROVEMENT”PLAN . HE MIGHT HAVE CONTINUED THIS ARTICAL WITH A REPORT ON WHERE THE AMBULANCES ARE LOCATED THAT WE SPENT OVER THREE MILLION DOLLARS TO FUND.
THE ANSWER LIES OUTSIDE THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AT THE NIAGARA FALLS HOSPITAL.
ACCORDING TO A RECENT REPORT THE WAIT TIMES FOR PARAMEDICS TO RELEASE PATIENTS TO STAFF OF THE ED HAS VIRTUALLY TRIPLED SINCE THE ER CLOSURES IN THE SOUTHERN TIER.
PREVIOUS TO CLOSURE ,AMBULANCES WERE DELAYED AT THE NIAGARA FALLS HOSPITAL APPROX 85 HOURS A MONTH. BY DECEMBER THIS WAIT-TIME DELAY WAS APPROX 280 HOURS MONTHLY OR AN AVERAGE EVERY DAY OF OVER 8 HOURS THAT AMBULANCES, TWO PARAMEDICS AND THEIR POOR PATIENT AWAIT THE ABILITY TO BE ACCEPTED INTO THE OVER BURDENED NIAGARA FALLS EMERGENCY ROOM.
NOT ONLY WERE THE TAXPAYERS STIFFED BY THE NHS BUT NOW WE LEARN THAT THE EXTRA AMBULANCES PUT INTO SERVICE ARE CAUGHT IN A CODE GRIDLOCK.
IT IS TIME FOR THE NHS TO ADMIT THE FAILURE OF THE HIP PLAN AND RE-EVALUATE THIS ILL CONCEIVED BLIGHT ON THE HEALTH CARE OF THE SOUTHERN TIER
Doug, if you are going to go back so far as Harris, as lefties love to bring up whether it is most relevant to the matter at hand or not, then you should also bring into account the Chretien Liberals for their health transfer payment cuts.
Shame on a lot of people, but don’t rank a two-terms-ago administration up there with the moves the McGuinty Liberals have made and allowed under their watch.
Also, the fact that the public and most media are willing to call it an improvement plan — using the HIP acronym rather than calling it a restructuring plan (which I would change it to in all copy where it showed up) — further helps the NHS make the whole process sound upbeat, if not downright positive. Stop using it.
I agree with Gord Bowes about use of that ‘HIP’ acronym. As a sidelight, and it’s certainly irrelevant to all the sad news about NHS, do have a look at Mr. Bowes’ site, Erie Beach Book. It has some truly wonderful pictures of the old Waverley Beach dance hall and park. I didn’t know such photos existed. Thank you for a heart-warming excursion back in time, Gord!